android – Stilgherrian

21 February 201621 February 2016

Talking smartphone data and battery life on ABC Kimberley

ABC logo Last Sunday, Telstra gave free data to all its mobile customers in an attempt to make up for a major screw-up in the previous week. That triggered a conversation…

As a variety of news outlets reported, one guy managed to download more than 420GB of stuff. Telstra’s mobile network was reported to be pretty slow as many other selfish pigs pigged out.

On Wednesday, I told Vanessa Mills on ABC Kimberley in Western Australia how people could reduce their mobile data usage and increase their battery like. This is the resulting nine-minute conversation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.5MB)

The ABC also turned this into a news story, Simple tricks to double your phone’s battery life and halve your data usage, posted Thursday morning.

23 August 201524 August 2015

Weekly Wrap 272: Kangaroos and fabrication, and the rest

Most of my week of Monday 17 to Sunday 23 August 2015 was wiped out by a cold, as I mentioned last time. But apart from that, I’m pleased with proceedings.

I didn’t get much new done, but some of my recent ZDNet columns seem to have gotten plenty of attention. I squirted out a new podcast, and locked in plenty of stuff for the future.

Articles

Following on from last week’s Android, you have serious security problems, we have…

Internet of Things, you have even worse security problems, ZDNet Australia, 21 August 2015.

Podcasts

“The 9pm Your Asteroid is Useless”, being The 9pm Edict episode 47. This is the first of a series of special episodes that result from The 9pm Urgent Hardware Refresh.

Media Appearances

On Friday, I spoke about the Ashley Madison hack on ABC Gold Coast.

5at5

There were four editions of 5at5, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Why not subscribe so you’ll get all the future ones?

Corporate Largesse

On Wednesday, I met with Dick Bussiere from Tenable Network Security — the chap who was quoted in this week’s ZDNet column — and their PR people paid for the coffee.

The Week Ahead

The week begins with the 0636 train to Sydney, because this is the first of two weeks I’m spending in Ashfield in Sydney’s inner west, catsitting. On Monday and Tuesday, I’m covering the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit in Sydney. I daresay that I’ll spend a big chunk of Wednesday writing about things from that event. Thursday too, maybe.

Mid-week I’ll also be announcing the full details of The 9pm Edict Public House Forum. I’ve already said elsewhere that it’ll be recorded on Saturday 12 September at the Australian Arms Hotel in Penrith, but still to come is information on how you can be part of the live audience.

In the latter part of the week, I’ll finally be able to buy all the hardware that you good people have paid for in The 9pm Urgent Hardware Refresh. The new MacBook Pro has already been ordered, and should arrive late in the week. I’ll shop around for the rest as I get the time.

The weekend sees a Full Moon, so I shall take the necessary precautions. I’ll probably also knock off a quick episode of The 9pm Edict.

Further Ahead

During the following week, starting Monday 31 August, I’ll design and test my new podcast recording set-up. I’ll post a description once that’s done. I’ll be at the ACCAN National Conference on Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 September, and indeed taking part in a panel discussion on the Wednesday afternoon. The weekend of 5 and 6 September will see another special episode of The 9pm Edict.

Further ahead still, on Friday 11 September, I’ll be presenting my regular guest lecture at UTS. And then on Saturday 12 September, it’s The 9pm Edict Public House Forum, with post-production to be done on the Sunday.

[Photo: The kangaroo is wokked, being a photograph of my breakfast in progress, taken on 23 August 2015.]

21 August 201522 August 2015

Weekly Wrap 271: New Moon, engage first gear

My week of Monday 10 to Sunday 16 August 2015 was just as remarkable as the previous week, in that I got plenty of interesting things done.

Given that this Weekly Wrap is so dreadfully late, however, I won’t go into any details.

Articles

Facebook says user privacy is ‘extremely important’, but no, ZDNet Australia, 13 August 2015.
Android, you have serious security problems, ZDNet Australia, 14 August 2015.

Podcasts

None. But there’ll be a new episode of The 9pm Edict on Sunday 23 August. See Update 11 of The 9pm Urgent Hardware Refresh for details of the plan from there on.

Media Appearances

On Monday, I spoke about hacking and the impending security disaster that is the Internet of Things (IoT) on ABC TV’s Lateline.
On Tuesday evening, I spoke about various technology issues on ABC 774 Melbourne, but there is no recording.

5at5

There were three editions of 5at5, on Monday, Thursday, and Friday. Why not subscribe so you’ll get all the future ones?

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

Most of it’s gone already, thanks to a nasty cold. Many people in and around Sydney seem to have been hit by this one. However, there’s a good two and a half days left, so…

On Friday (today), I’ll be re-planning everything post-cold, and writing a column for ZDNet.

On Saturday, I’ll be heading to Penrith to sort out a recording location for The 9pm Edict Public House Forum, as well as running a few errands. En route, I’ll be working on the script for the first of the three special podcast episodes for The 9pm Urgent Hardware Refresh. And on Sunday, I’ll be recording and posting that episode.

Further Ahead

The week beginning Monday 24 August will be the first of two weeks I’ll be spending in Ashfield in Sydney’s inner west, catsitting. I’m looking forward to it, though visiting Ashfield is always a bittersweet experience for me, for reasons that some of you may be aware of.

On Monday and Tuesday, I’m covering the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit in Sydney. In the past, I’ve gotten good value out of this event. I daresay that I’ll spend a big chunk of Wednesday writing about things from that event. Thursday too, maybe.

In the latter part of the week, I’ll finally be able to buy all the hardware that you good people have paid for in The 9pm Urgent Hardware Refresh. In between some meetings in the city, I’ll be designing and testing my new recording set-up, and posting a description once I’ve gotten it all working to my satisfaction. The weekend sees a Full Moon, so I shall take the necessary precautions.

Looking even further ahead, I’ll be at the ACCAN National Conference on Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 September, and indeed taking part in a panel discussion on the Wednesday afternoon. The weekend of 5 and 6 September will see another special episode of The 9pm Edict.

And further ahead still, on Friday 9 September, I’ll be presenting my regular guest lecture at UTS. And then on Saturday 10 September, I should be recording The 9pm Edict Public House Forum — though I’ll officially confirm that date tomorrow afternoon.

[Photo: Barangaroo from Pyrmont, photographed on 11 August 2015 as I was waiting for a coffee companion. The Barangaroo development is certainly dominating the western side of the Sydney CBD now.]

20 June 201521 June 2015

Talking Samsung’s phone vulnerability on The World Today

ABC logo Hundreds of millions of Samsung smartphones have a serious security vulnerability. The company has known about it since December, but hasn’t done anything about it. I spoke about this on ABC Radio’s The World Today on Thursday.

A software bug is making around 600 million Samsung mobile phones around the world vulnerable to attack. The bug in the phone’s keyboard software could allow hackers to read text messages and to view and take photos. It was found by a US computer security company which informed Samsung late last year.

If you want the technical details, read the Ars Technica story, New exploit turns Samsung Galaxy phones into remote bugging devices.

Here’s the three-and-a-half minute radio story. There’s also a transcript, and a written news story, Samsung phones vulnerable to cyber attacks because of software bug.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.6MB)

Since this report aired, Samsung has said that it will fix this vulnerability, but not all Samsung smartphone owners will receive the fix immediately.

31 December 201401 January 2015

Fine posts for 2014, such that they are

As in previous years, the list of most popular posts for 2014 was disappointing, so I’ve compiled this list for you to consider instead.

As it happens, only three posts stood out for me, and all of them were on the previous list.

May Reza Berati be the last, Mr Abbott. I do like this as exampled of the controlled rant, barely concealing a seething rage.
Operation Sovereign Borders, sinister and banal. Ditto for my reaction to Mick Kinley, acting chief executive officer of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) shrugging off concerns that Australia removes safety equipment from the lifeboats we put asylum seekers on before telling them to go home.
Algorithms and the Filter Bubble, Take 3. I continue to get compliments about this lecture, so it deserves to be on the list.

In the past I haven’t included the material I wrote elsewhere, for ZDNet Australia, Technology Spectator, CSO Online, Crikey, ABC The Drum and the rest. That’s all listed on my Media Output page. But this year I will highlight some of my personal favourites.

It’s strange, but we never really had to learn to love the bomb, Crikey, 29 January 2014.
Want secure software? Listen to Marge Simpson, ZDNet Australia, 13 March 2014.
It’s time that ‘metadata’ met an end, ZDNet Australia, 20 March 2014.
Enjoy your Ubergasm, but don’t expect respect in the morning, ZDNet Australia, 30 April 2014.
To win the cloud, remember George Westinghouse, ZDNet Australia, 27 May 2014.
Enough with the cyber ‘wake-up calls’, ZDNet Australia, 11 June 2014.
Google’s backward step on Android app privacy, ZDNet Australia, 20 June 2014.
Big data is just a big, distracting bubble, soon to burst, ZDNet Australia, 11 July 2014.
Beware the spin behind Australia’s new surveillance laws, ZDNet Australia, 21 July 2014.
Beware the spin behind Australia’s copyright law discussion paper, ZDNet Australia, 28 July 2014.
Putting people at the centre of enterprise security, ZDNet Australia, 3 November 2014.

Continue reading “Fine posts for 2014, such that they are”

12 August 2014

Talking Facebook app privacy on 1395 FIVEaa Adelaide

“Facebook Messenger app has permission to spy on your phone,” screeched a headline on 9 News today. “The new Facebook Messenger app has permission to take pictures and videos without your confirmation and to call numbers without intervention, causing unexpected charges.”

This story caught the attention of 1395 FIVEaa Adelaide afternoon presenter Will Goodings. As you’ll hear, I talked him out of some of the scarier ideas, but did mention the issues of granularity in smartphone app permissions that I’ve written about before.

Here’s the full interview, plus a little end note about what we might do with Adelaide’s Festival Plaza. I present a modest proposal, as does a listener.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.7MB)